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Offering a rare glimpse into one side of the Middle East conflict, Frontiers of Dreams and Fears explores the lives of a group of Palestinian children growing up in refugee camps. The film focuses on two teenage girls, Mona and Manar. Although they live in refugee camps miles apart, the girls manage to communicate and become friends despite the overwhelming barriers that separate them. The film reveals their lives, dreams, and growing relationship, at first through email, culminating in their dramatic meeting at the fence that separates them at the Lebanese/Israeli border.

Filmed in the style of such Hollywood action classics as Bullitt and The French Connection, the first image we see in Wolves Don't Eat Meat is through the scope of a rooftop sniper's rifle just before he makes a kill. A frantic chase through the streets of town follows as the assassin, Anwar, makes his getaway. Wounded and exhausted, Anwar stumbles into the home of a stranger where he is allowed to recuperate and his story unfolds. We learn that he was once an ambitious journalist who has been transformed into a slaughterer of men by the years of war, suffering and destruction he has witnessed around the world - starting with the massacre at Deir Yassin in Palestine. A message film about good vs. evil and the negative effects of violence, Wolves Don't Eat Meat nevertheless employs the trademark sex, violence and bloodshed popularized in Hollywood action films of the 1970s, a style that later influenced the films of directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Oliver Stone.

In the depths of loneliness and despair, beautiful Aida visits her "tailor," Victoria, a woman who runs a sensual house where erotic fantasies are fulfilled. After satisfying her desires in the arms of one of Victoria's young men, Aida has a haunting nightmare where she envisions herself as a witch who, during a full moon, has the power to destroy her lovers' sensitivity. This disturbing dream sends Aida into a downward spiral of self-destruction. When Aida finally loses her will to live and all hope for salvation, she longs to purify herself and find forgiveness for her sins. Reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut and the stylishly erotic films of Radley Metzger, The Lady of the Black Moons emerged from an era of relaxed censorship in Egypt.

Welterweight boxer Johar Abu Lashin is a man torn by contradictions. Palestinian by birth, Israeli by circumstance and American by choice, Lasheen has hopes of healing Arab-Israeli enmity through the power of sport. In this award-winning documentary, filmmaker Duki Dror follows the young champion as he defends his title in bouts in Nazareth and Gaza. Lasheen is a man in constant battle with himself, Dror observes; "The only place where he truly feels whole, or at home, is in the ring." Alas, in the Middle East, politics never takes a time out.

A glimpse into life in the Yemen as rarely seen by Western audiences: images of the country's landscape and insight into the characters of the colorful Yemeni people and their rich customs. The film's journey across the Yemen is seen from the points of view of both expert and novice - The Sheikh and The Gentleman. The film introduces Bader Ben Hirsi, a British-Yemeni born and bred in London after his parents' exile from the Yemen in the 1960s for being relatives of the last ruling king, The Imam al Badr. Upon discovering the award-winning book, Yemen - Travels in Dictionary Land by Tim Mackintosh-Smith, Bader feels compelled to journey to the Yemen to discover his country, its people and traditions for himself. His main task, however, is to persuade the eccentric author, Mackintosh-Smith, an Englishman who has been living as a Yemeni in the ancient city of Sana'a for the past 18 years, to be his personal guide through the Yemen. A friendship soon develops between the 'Sheikh al Nasara' (Sheikh of Christians) and 'The Yemeni Gentleman' who appear to have been living parallel existences. Elaborate stories and experiences are exchanged as they journey together throughout the magical Yemen--from the Northern Highlands to the Red Sea coast and from the nostalgic Aden to the splendid Wadi Hadramaut. Together they explore the ancient World Heritage city of Sana'a and visit the derelict homes of Bader's long lost ancestors.

Everything and Nothing creates an intimate dialogue that weaves back and forth between representations of a figure (of resistance) and subject. The film features interviews with Soha Bechara, an ex-Lebanese National Resistance fighter. She is interviewed in her Paris dorm room after release from captivity in the El-Khiam torture and interrogation center in South Lebanon where she had been detained for 10 years, 6 of which she spent in isolation.

The setting is Cairo in June of 1945, during the last days of the Second World War. Gohar, a former university professor, encounters a young prostitute in an empty brothel and kills her in a moment of insanity. Assigned to the murder case, police inspector Nour El-Din stays on Gohar's trail hoping for a confrontation and confession of the crime. In this remarkable adaptation of the novel by Albert Cossery, both the detective and the criminal are faces with startling realizations as one closes in on the other.

Umm Kulthum, the diva of classical Arabic music, was a leading figure in Egyptian and Arab popular culture in the 20th Century. The rise and changes in her career paralleled the rise of the music recording and broadcasting industries in Egypt, and her role in popular culture was singular in that she bridged the divide separating religious and secular expression. Far From You takes us on a journey to Cairo and to the medium of film in which Umm Kulthum's image is forever inscribed, yet forever at a distance.

Set during the current Intifada, this documentary follows four Palestinian families living in Dheisheh Refugee Camp near Bethlehem. Fadi is 13 and cares for his 4 younger brothers, the Hammashes are a close-knit family who pass on the lessons of life with humor and passion, Sana is a single woman who endures long commutes to do community work, and Emad and Hanan are a young couple trying to shield their daughter from the harsh realities of the occupation. They talk about their past and discuss the future with humor, sorrow, frustration and hope. Until When paints an intimate in-depth portrait of Palestinian lives today.

The atrocities witnessed by the world on September 11th were hateful acts committed by terrorists who chose to view their victims not as people but as symbols of a perceived evil they could not, or would not, confront directly. By jailing thousands of Arabs, Muslims and South Asians without evidence or due process, is America perpetuating the cycle of hate and ignorance which claimed so many innocent lives? "Brothers and Others" is a one-hour video documentary on the impact of the September 11th tragedy on Muslims and Arabs living in America. This documentary follows a number of immigrants and American families as they struggle in the heightened climate of hate, FBI and INS investigations and economic hardships that erupted in America following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In interviews with immigrants, government representatives and a select group of legal and historical experts like Noam Chomsky and James Zogby, this film reveals how Americans' fear of terrorism has provoked the passage of reactionary policies to a wave of racial intolerance that has compromised civil liberties and will affect immigrants and US nationals in the years to come.

Moving between the political sphere and everyday life on the streets, this film offers a unique glimpse into the resilience of Iraqis as they struggle to sustain their lives and to fight off a sense of despair and defeat.

Bahman Kiarostami's charming documentary about mourners-for-hire who are called upon to attend funerals in Iran. With an understated, lighthearted style, Tabaki provides a fascinating view of a peculiar occupation within this religious culture, offering, in the process, an insightful portrait of the society as a whole.

The film reflects the pessimistic mood of the immediate post Gulf War era. It adapts a sad short story by the poet and former Arab League ambassador Ibrahim Shokrallah and intercuts it with his biography. His painful description of a family's lemon tree which was cut down to build and sell a house seem to anticipate the future ordeals of his family starting with the military defeat in June 1967. Back from Canada his three children get involved in the anti-Zionist and leftist student movement of the early 1970s, are chased and imprisoned.

Behnaz Jafari is a young, aspiring actress in Tehran who wants to live a carefree and creative lifestyle. This lifestyle is not easy to obtain for a modern 24 year-old woman who lives alone in contemporary Iranian society. In this interesting documentary, the old is contrasted with the new as Behnaz considers the traditional advice she receives from well-meaning friends while still following her dream to lead a free life and become one of Iran's leading actresses.

Shahrbanoo is the story of an American woman's encounter and growing friendship with a traditional Muslim family living in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Tehran, Iran. When Melissa, a liberal American woman, travels to Tehran to visit her new husband's family there, she befriends their housekeeper, Shahrbanoo. Without her own family's knowledge, Shahrbanoo has been moonlighting as Melissa's mother-in-law's housekeeper for more than a quarter of a century. Shahrbanoo invites Melissa - and her filmmaker husband, Hamid, with camera in tow - to a family gathering where she is treated to an intense cultural exchange involving subjects ranging from religion to relationships, from a woman's place in society to American foreign policy. At the center of the film, however, is the close relationship that develops between Melissa and Shahrbanoo. Their friendship transcends stereotypes and offers a heart-warming testimony to the hidden bonds that can bring people together in spite of vast cultural differences.

Disney's ALADDIN, INDIANA JONES, Warner Brothers' cartoons of crazed Middle Eastern villains, international terrorists... These are America's pop culture depictions of Arabs and Muslims. With TV's PROMISED LAND, director Nicholas Dembowski creates a clever montage of found footage from Hollywood movies, cable news networks, European news broadcasts, American Westerns, etc. The accumulated evidence powerfully asserts that Western media has long demonized a catch-all "Arab/Muslim world" via selective coverage and dehumanizing imagery that boosts the "good vs. evil" rhetoric of politicians and pundits like George W. Bush, Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice and Bill O'Reilly. By offering no narration or other commentary of its own, TV's PROMISED LAND lets news outlets, Hollywood and politicians incriminate themselves.

The highlight of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's residency in the Ethnomusicology Program at the University of Washington School of Music was this January 23, 1993 concert at Meany Theater. This video illustrates his masterful use of hand and facial gestures to convey both meaning and to generate excitement and participation from the audience. It also captures the great master at work, leading his outstanding eight-man ensemble and elevating each song to a state of unparalleled musical and spiritual intoxication. Digitally remastered to enhance both sound and picture, NUSRAT! LIVE AT MEANY offers a rare opportunity to view the late master of qawwali at his finest.

Profiling Israelis and Palestinians who have devoted their lives to achieving non-violence and coexistence in the Middle East, this film presents a perspective not seen in television news.

Driving an Arab Street takes the viewer on a journey along the "Arab street," a monolithic term pundits use to describe Arab sentiment, to find out what people are actually saying about the West and America. The film follows Egyptian taxi drivers as they navigate the streets of Cairo and share their diverse perspectives on American and Egyptian society, culture, politics and the relationship between these two civilizations. Driving an Arab Street is Arthur Hurley's first documentary film. He first went to Egypt in 1999 to study Arabic at the American University in Cairo. After working briefly as a reporter in California, Hurley returned to Cairo to work as a freelance writer, continue his Arabic studies and make a documentary that would give insight into Arab and Western relations. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Film at American University.

The film is set during the annual fasting dedicated to the Virgin Mary. While depicting the habits and customs related to this fasting in her familiar surrounding, the director asks her female Coptic relatives to tell their stories. Mothers, sisters, daughters and nieces out of four generations give an account which illuminates the changes which occurred in Egyptian society regarding education and emancipation and the role religion is assigned to in that context. The women's traditional religiosity that formed rather a subtext of their daily life starts to become institutionalized to the extent that life of the younger women became entirely centered on the church and its multiple activities. The film touches on the one hand on the rich mythological Coptic heritages which are rooted among others in Old Egyptian customs and beliefs and tackles on the other gender inequalities perpetuated by the Coptic church and backed by Egyptian society in general.

Nazrah: A Muslim Woman's Perspective is an intimate look at a diverse group of Muslim women living in the Pacific Northwest in the USA. By creating a forum where Muslim women can freely engage in an open dialogue about complex issues, filmmaker Farah Nousheen exposes a vast and fascinating array of thoughts and ideas. The women discuss their views on Islam, current political events and how they reflect on the image of Islam in the West. The women also talk about the difficulty of achieving equality within the Muslim community while also fighting stereotypical portrayals of Muslim women in the US media. Nazrah (the Arabic word for "perspective") also includes director Farah Nousheen's own views on being a Muslim woman at a time when Islam is in the international spotlight.